LG restructures ops in India, splits sales into two geographies

Kolkata: LG Electronics India has restructured its operations, splitting sales into two geographical areas in a move aimed at strengthening ground presence before the festive season, two senior industry executives said.

The country's largest white goods maker has clubbed the north and east into India One, which will be led by Rajeev Jain, who headed the home appliances business. He will be based in New Delhi.

India Two covers the south and west and will be led by Sanjeev Agarwal, who was national sales head. He will be based in Bengaluru. The strategy mirrors that of rival Samsung, which split the Indian market into two geographies last year.

LG India has also reshuffled some roles. Vinod Kumar, who was national head of customer service, has been made chief of the go-to-market strategy focusing on sales process innovation, shop floor branding and managing shop floor sales executives. The changes were announced internally on Thursday and take effect in July.

Rahul Tayal has been named head of strategy and innovation, responsible for modern trade, brand shops and the online business as ET had reported earlier this month. Tayal joined from Croma, where he was chief of buying, merchandising, logistics and store design.

An LG India spokesperson declined to comment.

The changes have been made by LG India managing director Ki Wan Kim as part of a strategy to strengthen its leadership, make the business more autonomous, help gather real-time feedback from the market so that the company can react quickly and drive business efficiencies.

The managing director had been handpicked about a year back to revive sales following the recent slowdown.

As per industry estimates, LG's sales rose more than 15% in the January-June period with an intense and early summer boosting purchases of refrigerators and air-conditioners. Sales of air-conditioners rose 55% in March-April and refrigerators by 40%.

LG is the India market leader in refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens and among the top two brands in air-conditioners and LED televisions. LG India is targeting 20-25% growth in the July-December period on expectations of a good festive season, industry executives said.

The company expects the seventh pay commission salary and pension hikes for central government employees and a normal monsoon will lead to a consumption boost.